Yastika, Radha sparkle as India A beat Australia A by 3 wickets

Brisbane, Aug 13 (PTI) Yastika Bhatia hit a fifty and bowlers, led by skipper Radha Yadav, struck at regular intervals as India A scampered to a three-wicket win over their Australian counterparts in the first women's one-day match here on Wednesday.

India now lead the three-match series 1-0.

Left-arm spinner Radha took three wickets (3/45) as India A bundled out Australia A for 214, and then chased down the target in 42 overs with Bhatia (59 off 70 balls, 7x4) leading the visitors' charge.

India actually made a fine start with Bhatia and Shafali Verma (36 off 31 balls) adding 77 runs for the opening wicket in just 10.4 overs.

After Shafali fell to Sianna Ginger, Bhatia combined with Dhara Gujjar (31 off 53 balls) and milked 63 runs for the second wicket as India marched to 140 for 1 in 23.3 overs.

But Gujjar fell to Tess Flintoff and Bhatia to Kim Garth as India A were reduced to 157 for three. Off-spinner Ella Hayward (2/46) then ousted Tejal Hasabnis and Tanusree Sarkar in the 30th and 32nd overs, leading to the tourists further slipping to 166 for five.

India found a saviour in the determined Raghvi Bist (25 not out off 34 balls) and survived the quick dismissals of Radha and Minnu Mani by left-arm pacer Lucy Hamilton to go past the tape.

Earlier, Australia never really found the going easy despite Anika Learyod (92 not out off 90 balls) and Rachael Trenaman (51 off 62 balls) pulling off solid knocks.

The best part of the Australian innings was a 63-run partnership between Learyod and Trenman that rescued the home side from a wobbly 50 for three before the latter was run out.

Learyod and Nicole Faltum (18) then added 45 runs for the third wicket as the Aussies reached 158 for four in 34.1 overs.

But from that point, left-arm spinner Radha and off-spinner Minnu Mani (2/38) engineered an Aussie collapse together, taking four wickets equally among them for a mere seven runs to reduce the hosts to 165 for eight.

In the company of tailenders, Learyod managed to take the Aussies past the 200-run target but a victory was eventually out of their reach.

Brief scores: Australia A: 214 all out in 47.5 overs (Anika Learyod 92 not out, Rachel Trenaman 51; Radha Yadav 3/45, Minnu Mani 2/38) lost to India A: 215/7 in 42 overs (Yastika Bhatia 59, Shafali Verma 36, Dhara Gujjar 31, Raghvi Bist 25 not out; Ella Hayward 2/46, Lucy Hamilton 2/36) by 3 wickets. PTI UNG PM UNG PM PM